ARTCRANK & Locus Architecture dare you to make art

Locus Architecture, 708 W 40th St, Minneapolis, MN | Get Directions »
FREE

Summer night.  Ride your bike.  Make art.  No talent required.

At Northern Spark, a one night-celebration of creative culture in Minneapolis that begins on Saturday, June 9, ARTCRANK and Locus Architecture will offer cyclists on The Midtown Greenway a chance to create one-of-a-kind Tread Prints using nothing but a little pedal power and imagination.

“We developed the Tread Print concept as part of the ARTCRANK Minneapolis show a couple years ago,” says Locus partner Wynne Yelland. “Not everyone is an artist, but almost everyone rides a bike. Tread Prints let people create their own works of art just by riding across a sheet of paper.”

To make a Tread Print, riders of all ages transfer colored chalk from their bike tires to a sheet of poster paper. Combine a unique tread pattern with techniques ranging from straightforward riding to wheelies, bunny-hops and skids.

The idea of using bikes to create works of art rings true to ARTCRANK founder Charles Youel. “To me, riding a bike is a form of creative expression. A person’s riding style is a reflection of their personality, and you see that come out in every Tread Print.”

The Tread Print “studio” will be located on the Midtown Greenway at Elliot Ave. S., just west of the Freewheel Bike Midtown Bike Center. Volunteers will help riders create their own prints, and artists will have the option of taking their posters with them or contributing them to an open-air gallery for all to see and enjoy. Neenah Paper is donating the paper for the project, and anyone who wants to make a Tread Print can do so free of charge.